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Why do you write? Or, edit or publish? I’ve never met any who say, “Oh, it’s a job. Just trying to make a buck.” Thanks to self-publishing, the traditional gatekeepers are gone and more people are making money in the writing business now than ever before. Anyone who wants to be a writer, editor or publisher already has the qualification to do so: Want.

Do it. If you are good and lucky, you will succeed. Never before has so much opportunity been right in front of so many. The gates are open. If you’re a writer, act like one. Toss your book into Amazon’s hopper of eleventy-million other books. Editor or publisher? There’s room for more. Stop acting like you just showed up to the ball to see someone else wearing your dress.

So, why do you write? I like to write because I get better at it. it is about self defining. My writing has been a journey of self-discovery.

Story ideas are always popping into our heads. But, we don’t always know if it’s a good idea.

Want to know how your idea for a story will be received? Potential readers will enlighten you if you ask the question right.
For example, I recently wanted to know if the old story about an ancient civilization having existed on earth millennia ago was still a good topic. I asked that wonderful Facebook group, “Science Fiction.” They have 57,000+ members. The group is a smorgasbord of the latest science fiction news, story-fodder and insights into what sci-fi readers love about their genre.
I asked, “If a civilization did exist millions of years ago, what would still be around to prove it?” Whoosh! Hundreds of responses over two days answered that question and buried me in ideas and insights. (My favorite answer was, “Twinkies.”)

This approach, of course, can be applied to any large group of whatever genre you write.
🙂 Advertisers are not the only ones who can mine social media.

The Writers’ Co-op invites submissions of short stories (and poems) for the second edition of our yearly anthology, The Rabbit Hole.Volume onewas released in November last year, volume two is scheduled for September 2019.

This year, we are looking for weird stories dealing with the following themes: entertainment, weather or science. (If you want to combine all three, we’re very open to stories about a group of scientists on their way to the theatre when they’re caught in a freak snowstorm.) However, there will also be a section Weird At Large for stories that don’t fit the specific themes suggested.

There is a maximum word count of 5000. This is more a guideline than a strict limit – quality is the main criterion, not length. So a great story will be accepted, whether it’s 6000 words or 200 (flash fiction is welcome). But we’re looking for short stories, not novellas or extracts from novels – the story should be complete in itself. Though the anthology will be comprised mostly of stories, there will also be room for some poems or pieces of an experimental nature.

The deadline is 31st March 2019. Submissions should be sent in an attached file to curtis.bausse(at)outlook.com with the subject ‘Co-op submission’. They may have been previously published on personal websites (or elsewhere) but authors must have full rights to them when submitting. Authors will retain said rights after the story or poem is published in the Writers’ Co-op anthology.

Writers whose stories are selected will have the choice between keeping their share of the royalties or donating them to the Against Malaria Foundation.

What is meant by ‘weird’?

Like many categories, it’s fuzzy, because it stands in distinction to ‘normal’, and there’s no common acceptance of what is normal. Not all writers will approach it the same way, and so much the better – we hope for plenty of variety. At the core of weirdness, though, is the upsetting of expectations: normality, in the sense of what we’re accustomed to, doesn’t follow the course that led us to form those expectations. Where it goes – somewhere disturbing or hilarious – is entirely the writer’s choice. Or why not hilariously disturbing? Indeed, one advantage of ‘weird’ is that it allows for humour as much as for horror, so go for it!

How weird does it have to be? Anything from full on, over-the-top freaky to subtly odd and unsettling. So no worries if weird isn’t your usual style – a few deft touches can suffice. Give us writing that shifts our perceptions, leads us to experience, bubbling up through the regularity and routine, the fundamental weirdness of life. To quote the Count of Lautréamont, author of the Chant de Maldoror, if your piece is ‘beautiful as the chance meeting on a dissecting table of a sewing machine and an umbrella,’ there’s every chance that we’ll love it.

It’s a new magazine, a portal for spoofs of a cherished genre. We are sailing into uncharted waters with this. We, at least, possess no charts. But Geoff Habiger, Mike Van Horn, Adam Joseph Stump, Margret Treiber, Rik Ty, Jim Webster (to name a few in alphabetical order) and others are now editing submissions. Together with the writers they are working with, that’s enough talent to start a chain reaction. The plan is to publish the first issue this year on Amazon in digital and hard-copy formats.

I know, I know. A magazine? Our motto should be “Trephening.” (You need us like you need a hole in the head.) On the other hand, why not let in a fresh breeze? Or, better yet, be that breeze. Got a humorous speculative fiction story in you? It can be science fiction, fantasy, superhero fiction, science fantasy, horror, utopian, dystopian fiction, supernatural fiction – just be risible. It can also be a funny advertisement, article, column or letter to the editor. Or rewrite a famous story (that is in the public domain!) The idea is to poke fun at ourselves and have fun doing it.

And we do have the domain name, SciFiLampoon.com. That seals our bona fides, doesn’t it? We’ll even set up a formal web portal to feature the magazine and its writers, accept submissions and link to the sales sites.

So, if you can laugh at what you write, share the fun.
Submissions@SciFiLampoon.com

In 2015, I joined a writer’s group that changed my life. We call ourselves the International Writers Syndicate, because one of our members is Canadian and ‘Syndicate’ sounds sinister and mysterious. After four years of steady improvement and one year of co-leadership, this is what I’ve learned.

We Are IntentionalWe created our group to become better writers. This may sound obvious, but many writing groups form around a shared interest rather than a shared purpose. In other groups I’ve sampled, motives for participation range from, “I need something to keep me occupied on Tuesday nights,” to “I love hearing what a great writer I am. Please tell me more.”

Once you decide the purpose of your group, and commit to that purpose, decision-making about how to spend that time – and who to spend it with — becomes a lot clearer.

We Are CraftyIn keeping with our goal for continued improvement, we are heavily focused on craft. Lately a number of us have been doing a deep-dive into global structure. The more we study craft together, the more we develop a shared language for communicating about each other’s work. Our explicit, written objective in the critique process is not to impose our personal preferences onto someone else’s work, but rather to help each member clarify the story they are trying to tell and provide tools and techniques that will help them tell that story more effectively. Though we write everything from YA to erotic thriller, we believe that the principles of good storytelling are universal. We honor those principles at every meeting.

We Are RuthlessHere’s the truth about writer’s groups that nobody wants to hear: The desire to be nice will ride roughshod over your most deeply cherished vision for a group of committed, like-minded writers. Nice will invite anyone through the door, roll out the welcome mat, and allow them to suck your time, energy and resources regardless of their skill, commitment, or cultural fit. Nice will encourage whispered, covert conversations and erode group cohesion. Don’t believe for a second you’re sparing anyone’s feelings by not being direct with them. In the long run, they will only be hurt more.

After a number of frustrating experiences with open membership, we became a closed group, by invitation only. We evaluate for skill level, capacity for improvement, demonstrated ability to give and receive a critique, and tolerance for dirty jokes. Does it suck to tell an otherwise lovely person that they aren’t a good fit for your group? Sure does. You know what sucks more? Devoting precious time and energy to someone who doesn’t share or even comprehend your vision.

We don’t just guard membership with ruthless fervor, we’re also ruthless in the critique process itself. We tell each other what we really think, sometimes loudly. Honesty is our commitment to one another, no matter how much it hurts, because not improving as writers is the worst possible outcome. We consider this thing sacred, and we’re going to protect it with everything we have.

We Love Each OtherIf you care passionately about improving your writing, you will suffer. You will face writing tasks that seem impossible, spend months parched of inspiration, writhe with insecurity, and probably hear feedback that makes you want to pitch your manuscript in the trash and go do something fun. When you are trapped in the gaping maw of the worst this lifestyle has to offer, nothing matters more than having someone to ride out that suffering with you. They will listen to your paranoid 3am text rants and read your five versions of your third act because you will do the same for them. When they are full of fear and trembling, you will tell them they are brave and destined for greatness, dress them for battle, and push them out into the world. Your bond becomes their armor. And you will never feel more powerful.

The new year is around the corner. I could say something prolific, like “Welcome the new year with open arms, and let your thoughts guide your life.” And I would mean it and wish you well. By the time you read this post the new year will be here.

A few years ago, I noticed that the stories I wrote were not about anyone that I knew. But they were about how I wanted life to be lived, how I would have lived in that story. I didn’t realize I was doing this. I thought that all I wrote just came from my imagination. I’m a panster, with a desire to be a little more organized about my plans. But I love living in the moment so much, I’m afraid I’ll miss something. So planning is not an easy thing.

I love watching shows like Grimm, loosely based on the fairy tales of the Brother’s Grimm. But alas, it’s run is done. I can, however, pick up the DVDs at my local library. That’s cool.

I found that this show wasn’t too over the top, but had just enough fantastical production to keep me enchanted. When it went off the air, I went to the library to read some of the Brother’s Grimm fairy tales. I wanted to see how extravagant their writing was, and how true the TV show had been written with regards to their style.

When I read Grimm’s story of the Princess and the Frog. I just totally disagreed with the type of parenting that the story portrayed, and after I wrote my own version, a refashioned fairy tale, I found that I had been abhorred with the violence in the original. The magic in my story has no violence. And It turns out that I didn’t even mention the parents in my version. Well at least, not in the way that the Grimm’s did.

I have the characters being honest to the moment, themselves, and to each other. What they have learned from living life is guiding them. What talents they possess are theirs to develop and nurture. To me, this is a part of becoming an adult. And if actions reveal who you are, then what you believe will become apparent to others and yourself. I believe in letting people be themselves. Sometimes I’m surprised what comes out of my keyboard or even my pen.

My fairy tale is a story of how a young girl met her future husband. It is a bedtime story told within a larger story of the life of a grandmother. I have yet to finish the larger story. In fact, I didn’t even know that I was going to write the larger story until a few years after I started writing the fairy tale. More of the adventures alluded to in the fairy tale will be expanded. And because there will be mature people involved there will be stronger magic at work.

Thanks to a random reply I made to a post on Facebook with regards to stages of producing a book, I met GD. My writing background encompasses my life, but the practical parts came from working in a small town newspaper creating advertisements (which to me are little stories). I hope that in the coming year, I can find at least two more fairy tales to refashion.

I wish for you all the best opportunities to write with passion and action and honesty.

“The Rabbit Hole, Weird Stories Volume One” is the Writer Co-op’s first anthology. The plan is for a volume two in 2019, a volume 3 in 2020, etc.. It’s a long term plan. To that end, we need a business domain name linked to a sales page.

The domain name, TheRabbitHole.biz, has been linked to our anthology’s business page. Authors and promoters may feel free to use the domain name in any promotion of a Rabbit Hole anthology.(Note: The domain forwarding was requested Monday A.M., 17 Dec 18. It will update on the ‘Net’s hubs during this week. If it’s not working when you first try it, it will, and in the meantime, you can use:https://writercoop.wordpress.com/weird-stories-volume-one/ )

The purpose of the TheRabbitHole.biz web page is to promote The Rabbit Hole anthologies.

The current business page is a great start. Curtus Bausse set it up to do exactly what we needed for the launch. But like any business web page, it needs to change over time to accommodate marketing changes, new additions, and useful suggestions.

Please take a look at the page and let us know what should be changed or added. Suggestions are greatly appreciated. But keep it simple. We’re authors, not webmasters. (Though y’gotta be a little of both, these days 🙂 )